River Road Habitat Restoration 2017

Boy Scout Troop 120

Forty-nine volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 120 pulled invasive Japanese honeysuckle vines and replaced them with plants indigenous to Indiana to restore native habitats at River Road Park in Carmel. Led by Drew B. for his Eagle Scout project, the team logged in over 190 man hours of work. Japanese honeysuckle damages forest communities by out competing native vegetation for light, below-ground resources, and by changing forest structure. The vines over-top adjacent vegetation by twining about and completely covering small trees and shrubs, which endangers native plant and animal habitats.

Scout and adult volunteers worked together to pull invasive Japanese honeysuckle, which had overgrown large areas of River Road Park.

Drew and his team planted 25 bare-root Paw Paw trees and 25 Spice Bushes, both of which are native to Indiana. These plants will shield the light from reaching any of the existing honeysuckle plants, preventing growth of the invasive plant.

Here is a photo of the River Road Park forest area before the habitat restoration work. The invasive honeysuckle can be seen trying to overtake the native plants.

The Volunteers were mainly students and adults from Boy Scout Troop 120, and consisted of 25 youth and 24 adults.

Fifty wild golden glow flower plugs and fifty great blue lobelia (cardinal) flower plugs were also planted to renew the natural habitats of the area and restore the balance upset by the honeysuckle that grew there.

Here is a photo of the area after Drew and his team cleared the invasive honey suckle and planted the area with native Indiana plants and flowers. This revitalized forest will now be a habitat for native Indiana wildlife.

To learn more about invasive Japanese Honeysuckle and what you can do to help prevent the damage it causes, please watch this short video or download the document below.